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Thursday, December 31, 2015

SAINT JOHN – The Saint John Sea Dogs did
something on Thursday that they couldn’t do in each of their past two games –
hang on to a third period lead.

After blowing a 4-1 third period lead in
a shootout win on Tuesday and a 4-0 lead in an overtime loss on Monday, the Sea
Dogs bent a bit but didn’t break in a 3-2 victory over the Charlottetown
Islanders. Saint John entered the third up 3-1 and, despite giving up a goal
and being outshot 15-9, hung on for the regulation time victory.

Mathieu Joseph, Spencer Smallman and
Matt Murphy scored for Saint John while Marc-Antoine Turcotte made 36 saves in
the victory. Daniel Sprong and Mitchell Balmas replied for Charlottetown while
Guillaume Briand-Briere made 26 stops in the loss.

Just a minute into the game, Joseph
skated around the Charlottetown defence and beat Briand-Briere with a low wrist
shot to make it 1-0 Saint John. Then at 5:16, Smallman beat the Isles netminder top
corner on the blocker side to double the Sea Dogs’ lead.

With eight minutes left in the first,
Joseph sent a great pass to Matthew Highmore in front but Briand-Briere made a
nice pad stop off the deflected shot. A minute late, Balmas beat
Turcotte but not the post.

Charlottetown got on the board at 15:15 when Sprong grabbed the puck along the side boards, skated into the slot and
fired a hard wrist shot through the legs of Turcotte and making it a 2-1
contest.

In the second, Charlottetown was
applying the offensive zone pressure early and even hit a crossbar a few
minutes in. Later on it was Saint John getting chances – and then Turcotte had
to make a few good saves as Charlottetown turned it on.

At 14:02, Joe Veleno drew a slashing and
roughing penalty out of Luc Deschenes, giving Saint John a four-minute power
play. On the man advantage at 16:24, a point shot from Murphy beat Briand-Briere to
give Saint John a 3-1 lead.

Charlottetown got within one at 6:35 of
the third. After the Sea Dogs failed to grab the puck,
Balmas grabbed it and fired a shot top corner past Turcotte to make it a 3-2
game.

The Isles applied some serious pressure
in the final minutes of the game. With 41.7 seconds remaining, Murphy took a high sticking penalty to give Charlottetown a six-on-four advantage to end the
game. Despite maintaining puck possession, the Islanders could not convert to
tie it up.

Last games: The Islanders are coming off
a 4-3 shootout loss to the Moncton Wildcats on home ice last night. Filip
Rydstrom, Oliver Cooper and Daniel Sprong all scored for Charlottetown while
Matthew Welsh made 47 saves in the loss. The Sea Dogs are coming off a 6-5
shootout win in Bathurst on Tuesday night. Adam Marsh, Nathan Noel, Spencer
Smallman, Vincent Martineau and Sam Povorozniouk all scored for Saint John
while Alex Bishop made 35 saves in the win.

2015-16 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are
3-0-0-0 against the Islanders this season while Charlottetown is 0-3-0-0
against Saint John.

Last meeting: Dec. 5 at Harbour Station
where the Sea Dogs defeated the Islanders 4-3. Matthew Highmore, Dawson Theede,
Sam Povorozniouk and Spencer Smallman scored for Saint John while Charlottetown
goals came from Filip Rydstrom (two) and Quinn O’Brien. Alex Bishop made 31
saves in the win while Mason McDonald made 22 in the loss.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Islanders: Defensemen
Alexander McQuaid and Will Thompson and forward Oliver Cooper.

Player to watch: Daniel Sprong has three
goals and an assist in two games with the Islanders since his return from the
NHL. The 18-year-old forward had two goals in 18 games with the Pittsburgh
Penguins.

Three Things to Know

1. The Islanders are without forward
Filip Chlapik (Czech Republic) and goaltender Mason McDonald (Canada) due to
the world juniors. The Sea Dogs are without defensemen Jakub Zboril (Czech
Republic) and Thomas Chabot (Canada).

2. The Sea Dogs, who are sporting a
shorthanded lineup due to injuries and the world juniors, have picked up three
of a possible four points in their past two games – but it has been an
adventure. In those two games Saint John has given up a total of nine third period
goals.

3. Like the Sea Dogs, the Islanders have
been better on the road this season than at home. Eight of Charlottetown’s 14
wins this season have come away from Eastlink Centre.

Ah, 2015. It was a year of trades, a year of first round draft picks, a year of suspensions, and a year of exceptionalism. Here's a look back at some of the biggest Sea Dogs stories and events from the year that was.

Jan. 5 - the Sea Dogs made a couple of huge trades, which included shipping out captain Olivier LeBlanc and bringing in Bokondji Imama and Jason Bell. Oh, and they acquired Drummondville's first round pick from Cape Breton.

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

The Daniel Sprong show will make its
first Harbour Station appearance of the 2015-16 season tomorrow evening. The
Sea Dogs host Sprong and the Charlottetown Islanders at 7 p.m. for a New Year’s
Eve tilt.

Sprong was reassigned to the Islanders
by the Pittsburgh Penguins a couple weeks ago. The 18-year-old made an
immediate impact in his return to the QMJHL, scoring two goals in Charlottetown’s
4-1 win in Cape Breton on Monday.Tomorrow night’s contest will be Sprong’s 19th career game against Saint John. Sprong is averaging over a point-per-game in
his QMJHL career but is averaging slightly under that in his career against the
Sea Dogs.

Season

GP vs SJ

Goals

Assists

Points

2013-14

9

5

1

6

2014-15

9

4

6

10

Total

18

9

7

16

The Islanders, who sit 16th
overall in the QMJHL standings with a 14-19-2-1 record entering their home game
tonight against the Moncton Wildcats, appear as though they will be buying during
the holiday trade period now that Sprong is back. So far they’ve acquired
Samuel Blais and Guillaume Beaudry and dealt David Henley and Alexandre Goulet.

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

BATHURST - In the back half of a home-and-home to kick
off the second half, the Saint John Sea Dogs pulled out a 6-5 shootout win
over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan at the KC Irving Regional Centre Tuesday night. The
win avenged a heart breaking 6-5 overtime loss to the Titan at Harbour Station
on Monday.

In a tight checking first period, Marsh opened the scoring on a power
play at 14:47 when he unloaded a lethal wrist shot past Reilly Pickard. At the
other end, goaltender Alex Bishop made a few stellar saves to help keep the
hosts off the scoreboard.

2nd Period

Early in the second, Bishop stoned Viel on a breakaway. Shortly after,
the Sea Dogs power play connected again at 2:23 as Noel one-timed a rebound
from the left faceoff circle to give Saint John a 2-0 lead. At 6:48, Smallman
extended the lead to 3-0 when he finished off a give and go with Luke Green. Viel
finally beat Bishop at 9:18 after he one-timed a clean faceoff win by Rothesay's
Mark Simpson to make it 3-1. At 18:22, Martineau scored his first QMJHL goal
after he picked off a pass and fired a wrist shot from the high slot to restore
Saint John's three-goal lead.

3rd Period

In a case of "deja vu all over again," the Titan battled
back with goals early in the third to tie the game.In the first minute, Pickard stopped Joseph
and Daniel Del Paggio (twice) in close.Then at 2:07, Cordssen-David's long wrist shot near the blue line eluded
Bishop to make it 4-2. On a five-on-three power play at 3:49, a shot from in
close by Kuznetsov banked off the post and in. The Titan completed the comeback
at 10:30, when Trickett's power play blast from the point found its way past a
screened Bishop to make it 4-4. However, on another five-on-three power play at
15:09, a Povorozniouk snap shot from the lower part of the left faceoff circle
beat Pickard on the short side. Not to be deterred, with six seconds left in
regulation, Boivin scored another power play goal when he corralled a loose
puck down low and snapped it over an out-stretched Bishop to tie the game at
5-5.

Overtime

The Sea Dogs pretty much dominated the five-minute overtime period -
but Pickard came up with nine big saves to force a shootout.

Shootout

After Boivin and Povorozniouk exchanged goals off lovely dekes, Joseph
scored what proved to be the winner with a hard wrist shot through Pickard's
legs. Meanwhile, Bishop thwarted Kuznetzov and Simpson to seal the victory for
Saint John.

Blowing a four-goal third period lead
certainly doesn’t happen every day. While Sea Dogs fans may not have liked what
they saw last night at Harbour Station, at least it turned a lopsided game quickly into a very entertaining
20-plus minutes of hockey.

The Sea Dogs certainly missed defensemen
Thomas Chabot and Jakub Zboril in the game. D-man Bailey Webster was also out
with an injury as were strong defensive forwards Samuel Dove-McFalls and
Spencer Smallman. This isn’t a team that’s going to blow a four-goal lead too
often when they have all their regulars dressed.

A few other notes from the game:

Saint John now has a -10 goal
differential in third periods this season. They are +6 in first periods and +11
in second periods.

This was just the fifth time this season
overall – and second time on home ice – that the Sea Dogs have lost a game when leading after two periods. On the other side, this was Bathurst’s third win of
the year when trailing after two and the first time they’ve done so on the
road.

The Saint John Sea Dogs (20-13-3-0, 43
points), who sit second in the Maritimes Division and eighth overall in the
QMJHL, travel to Bathurst tonight to take on the Titan (14-19-2-1, 31 points),
who sit fourth in the Maritimes and 14th overall, at 7 p.m. at the
KC Irving Regional Centre.

TV/Radio/Webcast: None/96.1 NewSong
FM/QMJHL Live

Last games: The Sea Dogs blew a
four-goal third period lead in a 6-5 overtime loss to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan
last night at Harbour Station. Christophe Boivin, Mark Simpson and Jeffrey
Truchon-Viel each scored twice for Bathurst. Mathieu Joseph had a hat trick for
Saint John while singles came from Joe Veleno and Nathan Noel. Reilly Pickard
made 25 saves in the win while Marc-Antoine Turcotte made 33 in the loss.

2015-16 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are
1-1-1-0 against the Titan this season while Bathurst is 2-1-0-0 against Saint
John.

Last meeting: Last night.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Titan: Defenseman
Jason Bell.

Player to watch: Sea Dogs forward
Mathieu Joseph, who had a hat trick last night, has 10 goals, nine assists and
53 shots in his past 10 games. The Tampa Bay Lightning prospect is now
averaging over a point-per-game (19 goals and 37 points in 32 games).

3 Things to Know

1. After 18 home games, the Titan are
averaging a league low 1,380 fans per game. That’s 310 fans per game lower than
the Baie-Comeau Drakkar who have the second worst average attendance in the
league.

2. With a shorthanded goal last night,
Mathieu Joseph is now tied for the league lead in shorthanded markers with
five. As a team, Saint John has 12 goals when down a man this season, which is
second most in the QMJHL.

3. Last night’s five-goal third period
by the Titan ties a league high for goals scored in a third this season.

Other notes: The Titan have won four
straight games… Christophe Boivin has goals in three straight games… Antoine
Morand has assists in six straight games… Saint John has picked up three more
points on the road this season than at home.

Monday, December 28, 2015

SAINT JOHN – The Saint John Sea Dogs
kicked off the second half with a Monday meltdown at Harbour Station.

The Sea Dogs blew a four-goal third
period lead in a 6-5 overtime loss to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan at Harbour
Station. The Titan have now won four straight games while the Sea Dogs’ home
woes continue.

In the first period back from the
Christmas break, both teams looked a little sluggish in a frame that lacked any
real type of flow. A few nice hits coming from both sides made for a physical
period with limited scoring chances for both sides.

After a lackluster first period, Mathieu
Joseph brought the Harbour Station faithful to their feet after one timing a
Daniel Del Paggio feed past Reilly Pickard, giving the Sea Dogs the 1-0 lead
one-minute into the second. Joseph would strike again - this time with his
fifth shorthanded goal of the season - doubling the Sea Dogs’ lead to 2-0 at
13:26. Saint John would strike again just over a minute later when Joe
Veleno banged home a rebound which gave the Sea Dogs a 3-0 advantage. Nathan
Noel rounded out the second period scoring with a power play marker at 19:28,
giving Saint John a commanding 4-0 lead entering the third period.

The Titan would strike early in the
third after killing a Sea Dogs’ power play chance. Christophe Boivin went top
shelf on Marc-Antoine Turcotte, cutting Saint John’s lead to 4-1. Mark
Simpson got the Titan within two goals after ripping a shot past Turcotte at
4:23. Boivin would strike again at the 5:03 mark, getting the Titan within
one after a furious start to the third period. Bathurst completed the
comeback when Jeffrey Truchon-Viel scored a power play marker with just 5:37
left in the final frame. The Titan would then take the lead when Mark
Simpson scored with just 3:09 remaining, giving the Titan the lead for the
first time. The Sea Dogs would battle back though. With Turcotte pulled
for the extra attacker, Joseph completed his hat trick and tied the game with
1:20 left in regulation.

In overtime there was plenty of back and
forth action - but the Titan would ultimately get the game winner. Truchon-Viel
beat Turcotte with 2:03 remaining, giving the Titan an unlikely 6-5 victory.

Thomas Chabot picked up his first point
of the world juniors in Canada’s 6-1 victory over Denmark today.

Chabot setup Matt Barzal’s second period
power play goal to put Canada up 3-1 at the time. Team Canada scored four times
in the second after entering the period tied 1-1.

The Sea Dogs defenseman finished the
game with one point, two minutes in penalties and three shots. He was called for slashing late
in the second, a penalty the Canadians easily killed off.

After a tough 4-2 loss to the United
States to open the tournament, this was a dominant performance – and an
expected performance – by Team Canada. They are now 1-0-1 at this year’s world
juniors and, with the US losing today, still have a shot at winning Group A.

Canada takes on the Switzerland tomorrow
at 2 p.m. on TSN. They’ll play their final game of the preliminary round on New
Year’s Eve against Sweden.

Earlier in the day, Jakub Zboril
assisted on David Pastrnak’s game-winner in the Czech Republic’s 2-0 victory
over Slovakia. Pastrnak was just given clearance by the Boston Bruins to join
the Czechs while Zboril is, of course, a Bruins prospect.

Zboril finished the game with one point,
two penalty minutes and two shots. The Czech Republic, now 1-0-1, plays Belarus
on Wednesday.

Last games: The Titan are coming off a
6-1 win in Charlottetown on Dec. 18. Mark Trickett, Jeffrey Truchon-Viel,
Christophe Boivin, Guillaume Brisebois, Mark Simpson and Daniil Miromanov all
scored for Bathurst while Reilly Pickard made 33 saves in the win. The Sea Dogs
are coming off a 3-1 win over the Halifax Mooseheads on Dec. 18. Luke Green,
Ryan Chiasson and Nathan Noel all scored for the Dogs while Marc-Antoine
Turcotte made 18 saves in the win.

2015-16 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are
1-1-0-0 against the Titan this season while Bathurst is 1-1-0-0 against Saint
John.

Player to watch: Antoine Morand, who was
picked second overall in the 2015 QMJHL Entry Draft behind Joe Veleno, is
fourth in QMJHL rookie scoring with 10 goals and 23 assists for 33 points in 30
games.

3 Things to Know

1. The Titan have the second worst road
record in the league this season (4-11-1-1). The Baie-Comeau Drakkar have the worst with just
one road win in 16 tries.

3. The Titan enter the second half with
29 points and sit 4th in the Maritimes Division. The Halifax
Mooseheads and Charlottetown Islanders, who sit 5th and 6th
in the division, respectively, also have 29 points.

Saturday, December 26, 2015

It was a rough start to the World Junior
Hockey Championships for two Saint John Sea Dogs defensemen.

Jakub Zboril’s first game of this year’s
tournament lasted just a little more than 10 minutes. At 10:17 of the first
period in the Czech Republic’s opening game against Russia, Zboril was given a
five-minute major and game misconduct for boarding.

Earlier this month, Despres showed signs
of improvement and attempted to skate on his own before a practice at Anaheim
Ice. Lingering symptoms are now keeping the defenseman from taking steps
forward in getting back on the ice, and the Ducks aren’t pushing him.

The Ducks have underperformed so far this season and sit dead last in the NHL's Western Conference, two points behind the Edmonton Oilers. Their problem hasn't been on the backend but up front - they've scored the fewest goals in the league this season with just 62 in 33 games.

The return of Daniel Sprong certainly hurts
Saint John’s drafting, assuming the Isles keep the Pittsburgh Penguins
prospect. Saint John owns Charlottetown’s first round pick, a pick that will no
doubt lower on the draft board thanks to Sprong. Charlottetown currently sits
17th overall, which would put Saint John into the draft lottery –
again.

Speaking of Sprong, he and the Islanders
visit Saint John on New Year’s Eve for a 7 p.m. matchup.

Thursday, December 24, 2015

Halfway through their home schedule, the
Sea Dogs are averaging 3,186 fans per game. While it’s not a great number, it’s
actually up a small amount from last year.
Here's a look at Saint John's attendance on Christmas Eve from the past few seasons:

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Coyle’s goal at 4:55 of the third period
– a goal that saw the forward fly past his former Sea Dogs teammate – proved to be the
game winner in the Minnesota Wild’s 2-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens.

Coyle, the game’s second star who
finished the game with one goal, three shots and three hits in 16:20 of ice
time, now has eight goals and nine assists in 33 games this season with the
Wild. The 23-year-old forward has two goals and an assist in his past two
games.

Meanwhile, Beaulieu finished fourth on
the Habs in ice time last time. Montreal enters the Christmas break on a
five-game losing streak.

"We deserve better," Beaulieu
told NHL.com. "We've had some bad games along this stretch but we've
played some good hockey, especially tonight. Good goaltender, [defense] played
well, forwards were playing our system. I know we keep saying, 'It was just one
of those nights,' but we played a good hockey game tonight."

DiDomenico has been playing overseas
since the 2012-13 season. In his second full season with the SCL Tigers in
Switzerland, the 26-year-old forward leads the team in scoring with seven goals
and 20 assists in 27 National League A games.

The former Sea Dog played with Canada at
last year’s tournament as well where he was held pointless. Canada lost in the
semifinals.

DiDomenico also played with Team Canada
at the 2009 world juniors, helping the team win gold in Ottawa.

A native of Woodbridge, ON, DiDomenico
spent two-and-a-half seasons with the Sea Dogs from 2007-2009. According to Elite Prospects, he is fifth all-time in franchise scoring with 75 goals and
204 points in 166 games.

DiDomenico is arguably the most
important player in Sea Dogs history. Not only was he the team’s first big
offensive star, he was also traded to the Drummondville Voltigeurs in the deal
that saw Saint John acquire the pick used to draft Jonathan Huberdeau.

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Andrew Langan only played in 14 QMJHL
games but still managed to have an impressive junior career.

Langan was a fifth-round pick of the Sea
Dogs in the 2007 QMJHL Entry Draft. The Quispamsis native played in 14 games
with Saint John over three seasons, recording three assists.

While he could never earn a full time
roster spot with the Sea Dogs, Langan had quite a career at the junior ‘A’
level with the Woodstock Slammers, which was highlighted by captaining the team to the RBC Cup
final in 2012.

According to the Slammers website,
Langan “would play in 223 games, collecting 98 goals and 144 assists.” Along with making it to the national final in 2012, Langan and the
Slammers also won MHL championships in 2010 and 2012.

The Sea Dogs open up the second half of the season against Bell and the Titan on Dec. 28 at Harbour Station.

The QMJHL has been a bit slow at confirming trades on their website this year for whatever reason. A couple of big deals
involving the Charlottetown Islanders were confirmed today though as Alexandre
Goulet (pictured... sort of) was dealt to Victoriaville for Samuel Blais and David Henley was sent to
Val-d’Or for draft picks.

The Islanders find themselves in an odd
situation with the news of Daniel Sprong heading back to the QMJHL. Despite
today’s deals and the fact that they are sitting in the league’s basement, the
Isles apparently want to be buyers. We’ll see how that works out.

Chabot was one of the seven defensemen
named to the team today as the final four cuts were made.

Other QMJHL players named to the team
were forwards Julien Gauthier (Val-d’Or) and Anthony Beauvilllier (Shawinigan)
along with goaltenders Mason McDonald (Charlottetown) and Samuel Montembeault
(Blainville-Boisbriand).

Chabot, a first-round pick of the Ottawa
Senators in this year’s NHL Draft, has been solid in Team Canada’s
pre-tournament games. TSN’s Bob McKenzie indicated yesterday that he was one of
the favourites to make Canada’s defensive unit.

The 18-year-old has seven goals and 13
assists in 22 games with Saint John this season.

Looking back on the past couple seasons,
Chabot has been on quite a rise. He has gone from a second-round pick in the
2013 QMJHL Entry Draft and an under-the-radar NHL prospect a year ago to a
first-round NHL pick and, now, part of Canada’s world junior team.

Other Sea Dogs that have been on Canada's world junior team in the past are Chris DiDomenico (2009), Simon Despres (2011), Nathan Beaulieu (2012) and Jonathan Huberdeau (2012 and 2013).

Canada defeated Jakub Zboril and the
Czech Republic 1-0 in a pre-tournament game this morning in Finland. They play
Sweden in an exhibition game on Wednesday and begin the tournament on Boxing Day
against the United States.

Team Canada continues pre-tournament
play today when they take on Jakub Zboril and the Czech Republic at 11 a.m.
That game can be seen on TSN. The Hockey House has a preview of the Czech team,
writing that Zboril had “a solid Summer Showcase tournament in Canada this past
summer, and there’s no question the Boston Bruins first rounder will be a
leader on a team without a great group of stars like Canada or the United
States.”

Canada plays Sweden in exhibition play on Wednesday before
opening up the tournament on Boxing Day against the United States.

Siska, drafted ninth overall by Mike
Kelly and the Sea Dogs in the 2013 CHL Import Draft, played in 64 games with
the Sea Dogs last season and recorded seven goals and eight assists. The
19-year-old is playing with HC Nitra this season, according to the IIHF
website.Photo: Marc Henwood/Station Nation

Saturday, December 19, 2015

After having a record seven players
drafted in the 2015 NHL Draft, two others given NHL training camp invitations
and having the first 15-year-old to gain "exceptional status" on
their roster, hopes and expectations ran very high among Sea Dogs players,
management and fans entering the 2015-16 season. Upon reflection, as we
enter the holiday break, those high expectations may have been a tad overly
optimistic.

With an overall record of 20-13-2-0 in
35 games played - including a 9-5-1-0 record against Quebec based teams - the
Sea Dogs are comfortably in a playoff position and second in a tough Maritimes
Division. However, it's fair to say that the team has been consistently
inconsistent, often playing to the level of their competition. And the Sea Dogs
have not performed as expected against the rival Moncton Wildcats, especially
at home. The Sea Dogs' three heartbreaking losses (2-1 on Sept. 13, 4-2 on Oct.
24 and 4-3 on Dec. 4) and one down right lousy loss (5-0 on Nov. 12) on Harbour
Station ice have left a bad taste in the mouths of fans and management. On the
flip side, the Dogs have actually played well at the Moncton Coliseum with a
4-3 overtime loss on Oct. 25 and a convincing 6-2 win on Dec. 9.

The Sea Dogs have been one of the top
three teams on the road thus far - but their pedestrian 9-7 record on Harbour
Station ice has more than a few of the faithful scratching their heads as well.

In assessing what has prevented the Sea
Dogs from challenging Rouyn-Noranda, Val-d'Or, Shawinigan and Moncton for first
overall at this stage, a few theories have emerged:

Theory 1 - NHL Hangovers

To varying degrees, the nine players
that were returned to Saint John from NHL camps (i.e. Thomas Chabot, Jakub
Zboril, Samuel Dove-McFalls, Mathieu Joseph, Spencer Smallman, Bokondji Imama,
Adam Marsh, Nathan Noel and Jason Bell) along with Luke Green (who was cut from
Team Canada’s under-17 team for the Ivan Hlinka summer tournament) have
struggled to find their way again in the QMJHL. For virtually all of these
guys, it is the first time they have been cut from a team. That's tough for
just about anyone - but especially for teenagers with big dreams. Besides the
negative impact on their confidence, it's likely that they were told by the
respective NHL teams' staffs to focus on improving some aspect of their
game.Anyone who has played competitive
sports - or is a golfer - can relate to focusing too much time and effort into
one part of their game to the detriment of other aspects. The talent is there,
and the results should improve as their hard work builds more confidence.

The Sea Dogs
have made just three trades during the 2015-16 season so far, acquiring
affiliate players Jordan King and Ryan Chiasson along with veteran defenseman
Matt Murphy. The Murphy deal took place last week.

Saint John
made four deals during the holiday trading period last year, including
significant deals involving Bokondji Imama and Olivier LeBlanc.

Today should
be a busy day around the league as a numbered of rumoured deals will be made
official. All official trades will be posted on the QMJHL website.

It appears the Saint John Sea Dogs will
be active in the early goings of the QMJHL’s holiday trading period.

According to Mikael Lalancette of TVA
Sports, defenseman Jason Bell will be traded to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan in
exchange for a third-round pick in the 2018 QMJHL Entry Draft and a sixth-round
pick in 2016.

Bell, who was injured in last week’s Imama/Bent
incident, has one goal and one assist in 19 games with the Sea Dogs this
season. He has been a healthy scratch at times this season thanks to Saint John’s
wealth of quality defensemen.

The 18-year-old was acquired from the
Cape Breton Screaming Eagles in the Olivier LeBlanc trade last season.

Friday, December 18, 2015

SAINT JOHN - The Saint John Sea Dogs closed
out the first half with a 3-1 victory over the Halifax Mooseheads on Friday
night at Harbour Station.

The Sea Dogs and Mooseheads got off to a
bit of a slow start with a lot of neutral zone play. The Sea Dogs would
eventually get on the board first at the 17:24 mark when Luke Green rushed in
and buried his own rebound past Eric Brassard. That’s all the damage that
would be done in the opening period despite an 11-5 shot advantage for Saint
John.

The Sea Dogs had a great start to the
middle stanza as call up Ryan Chiasson scored the second goal of his QMJHL
career, putting a shot past Brassard and giving the Sea Dogs a 2-0 lead at the
4:19 mark. The Mooseheads would cut the lead in half when Maxime Fortier
buried a second chance on his wraparound attempt, cutting the deficit to
2-1. Saint John peppered Brassard with 23 shots in the second period but the
netminder managed to keep the Mooseheads within a single goal heading to the
third period.

After Matthew Highmore was called for a
slashing penalty just 1:20 into the third period, it was Nathan Noel finishing
off a nice two-on-one with Mathieu Joseph, giving the Sea Dogs a shorthanded
marker and extending their lead to 3-1. Halifax would pull Brassard late
in the final frame but could not beat Marc-Antoine Turcotte, giving the Sea
Dogs a 3-1 victory.

A preview of tonight’s game between the
Halifax Mooseheads and Saint John Sea Dogs…

When and where: Tonight at 7:30 p.m.,
Harbour Station

TV/Radio/Webcast: Rogers TV/96.1 NewSong
FM/QMJHL Live

Records: The Mooseheads are fifth in the
Maritimes Division and 16th overall in the QMJHL with a record of
12-17-4-1 for 29 points. The Sea Dogs are third in the Maritimes and ninth overall
with a 19-13-2-0 record for 40 points.

Last games: The Mooseheads are coming
off a 4-1 home loss last night to the Moncton Wildcats. Arnaud Durandeau scored
Halifax’s lone goal while Kevin Resop made 35 saves in the loss. The Sea Dogs
are coming off a 4-2 loss to the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles last night at
Harbour Station. Adam Marsh and Mathieu Joseph scored for Saint John while
Marc-Antoine Turcotte made 28 saves in the loss.

2015-16 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are
2-2-0-0 against the Mooseheads this season while Halifax is 2-1-1-0 against
Saint John.

Last meeting: Last Friday at Scotiabank
Centre where the Mooseheads defeated the Sea Dogs 8-5. Cavan Fitzgerald, Danny
Moynihan and Timo Meier each had two goals for Halifax while singles came from
Andrew Shewfelt and Maxime Fortier. Saint John had a hat trick from Luke Green
and single from Daniel Del Paggio and Matt Murphy. Eric Brassard made 31 saves
in the win. Marc-Antoine Turcotte and Alex Bishop combined to allow eight goals
on 35 shots.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Mooseheads: Kelly
Bent

Random stat/fact: Both Kelly Bent and
Bokondji Imama are suspended for this game following the incident from last
week’s meeting between the two.

Thursday, December 17, 2015

SAINT JOHN - In the second
game of a home-and-home set, the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles defeated
the Saint John Sea Dogs 4-2 Thursday evening at Harbour Station -
which avenged a 4-3 loss to the Sea Dogs last Saturday. With the win,
Cape Breton leapfrogged Saint John into second place in the Maritimes Division
- although the Sea Dogs now hold two games in hand.

In a hard fought, back and
forth period, both Marc-Antoine Turcotte and Alexandre Belanger were
tested early and often. However, both goaltenders came up with a number of
'grade A' saves to keep the game scoreless. Just before the nine-minute
mark, Bailey Webster and Jordan Ty Fournier met for a short tilt after the
Eagles forward bowled over Turcotte behind the Sea Dogs net.

2nd Period

An apparent Eagles goal by Alexandre
Gosselin near the six-minute mark was called back due to a missed offside call.
However, four minutes later, Sorrentino's one-timer from the slot beat Turcotte
to open the scoring. At 12:44, seconds after the Eagles killed off a
penalty, Joly banged a rebound past a fallen Turcotte to extend Cape
Breton's lead to 2-0. Frustrations boiled over at 14:17 when Marsh
fought Colby Tower, landing several hard punches. Caron extended Cape
Breton's lead to 3-0 when he deposited his first QMJHL goal off a goalmouth
scramble.

3rd Period

The Screaming Eagles onslaught continued
into the third and at 3:24 Dubois swooped out of the corner and beat Turcotte
to the far side to make it 4-0 Cape Breton. The Sea Dogs finally got
on the scoreboard on a power play at 8:32 when Marsh tipped a Matthew Highmore
point shot past Belanger. On another power play at 14:58,
Joseph unloaded a slap shot from the right face-off circle and past
Belanger to bring the Sea Dogs back to 4-2. Despite applying tremendous
pressure in the closing minutes, Belanger was able to hold the fort
for the win.

A preview of tonight’s game between the
Cape Breton Screaming Eagles and Saint John Sea Dogs…

When and where: Tonight at 7 p.m., Harbour
Station

TV/Radio/Webcast: None/96.1 NewSong
FM/QMJHL Live

Records: The Screaming Eagles are third in
the Maritimes Division and ninth overall in the QMJHL standings with an
18-14-3-0 record for 39 points. The Sea Dogs are second in the Maritimes and
eighth overall with a 19-12-2-0 record for 40 points.

Last games: The Screaming Eagles and Sea
Dogs met last Saturday at Centre 200 with Saint John posting a 4-3 victory.
Mathieu Joseph, Sam Povorozniouk, Adam Marsh and Joe Veleno scored for the Dogs
while a pair of Eagles goals came from Phelix Martineau and a single from
Michael Joly. Marc-Antoine Turcotte made 18 saves in the win while Alexandre
Belanger made 34 in the loss.

2015-16 head-to-head: The Sea Dogs are
3-0-0-0 against the Screaming Eagles while Cape Breton is 0-3-0-0 against Saint
John.

Last meeting: See above.

Ex-Sea Dogs on the Screaming Eagles:
Olivier LeBlanc

Random stat/fact: Saint John and Gatineau
have played the fewest home games in the league this season (15). The Sea Dogs
close out the first half with two home games.

RDS has a story on Jonathan Huberdeau’s
season so far. Huberdeau has four goals and 14 assists in 31 games with the
Florida Panthers.

At tonight’s County Aces games in St.
Stephen, former Sea Dogs goaltender Kyle Porter had to be helped off the ice by
teammates in the third period after suffering an apparent lower body injury.
The Aces won the game 7-4 over the Dieppe Commandos.

You can vote for Adam Marsh’s beautiful
goal against Cape Breton for the Fan Choice Play of the Week.

Meier has 11 goals and 25 assists in 23
games with the Mooseheads this season. He is currently with Switzerland’s
under-20 team preparing for the World Junior Hockey Championship.

In today’s Chronicle Herald, Willy Palov
had an article on Meier’s future with the Mooseheads. Given that Halifax is
rebuilding and Meier, the ninth overall pick in this year’s NHL Draft, is a
19-year-old, it makes a whole lot of sense for the Moose to deal him.

Meier would certainly give the Sea Dogs
something they need: a highly skilled forward that can take over a game. Saint
John has plenty of offensive depth, but they are missing that big impactful
player up front that can dominate.

The price to get Meier will no doubt be
high – even though the San Jose Sharks prospect will likely be playing pro next
season. But last week’s Matt Murphy deal indicates that Saint John believes
they can do some winning this season and aren’t afraid to move some assets.

The Murphy deal also helps with the
possibility of having to move Jakub Zboril or Oliver Felixson – the team’s two current
imports.

Meier was recently named the QMJHL's first star of the week after setting a career high with six points in Halifax's win over the Sea Dogs on Friday. The Mooseheads – without Meier – visit Saint
John on Friday.

Green, a 17-year-old defenseman in his
second year with the Sea Dogs, has a solid seven goals and 11 assists in 29
games this year. Impressively, six of his seven goals and 10 of his 11 assists
have come on the road (15 games). Green only has two points – one goal and one
assist – in 14 home games.

Saint John, overall, has been good on
the road this season. With an 11-6-1-0 record away from home this season, they are
tied for the second most road wins in the QMJHL.

All of the players who sit ahead of
Green on the team scoring leaderboard have relatively even home/road numbers.
Green, the third star of the league this week, is an exception, it seems.

In other news…

Mike Hoffman’s incredible season
continued last night, scoring two goals and adding an assist in a first star
performance. Hoffman now sits eighth in league scoring and fourth in goals with 17
goals and 30 points in 27 games.

It’ll be interesting to see what kind of
impact Matt Murphy will have on Saint John’s woeful power play. Murphy has
three goals and nine assists on the man advantage this year, accounting for
nine of his 25 points. Murphy had a goal and an assist on the power play in his
Sea Dogs debut on Friday in Halifax.

The Sea Dogs host the Cape Breton
Screaming Eagles on Thursday and Halifax Mooseheads on Friday.

Friday’s game will be Saint John’s last
match of the first half. They return to action on Dec. 28 at home against
Bathurst.

Monday, December 14, 2015

On Saturday, Dec. 12 the
Golden State Warriors’ 28-game winning streak came to an end. It was six years
ago Sunday, Dec. 13 that the Saint John Sea Dogs’ 22-game winning streak
came to a close.

Six years later, the streak that got the
glory days of the Sea Dogs franchise rolling is often forgotten about thanks to all the championships that followed. It’s too bad, really – because the
streak was a whole lot of fun.

During their streak, which extended from
October 17th until December 12th, Saint John scored 107 goals while allowing a
mere 44. The offence was led mainly by Mike Hoffman (36 points and 8
game-winning goals), Nicholas Petersen (31), Michael Kirkpatrick (30) and
rookie Stanislav Galiev (25 points). The strong defensive brigade saw its
veteran, Yann Sauvé, register a solid +24 differential in addition to gathering
16 points. In nets, veteran Marc-Antoine Gélinas won 15 games, allowing a
meagre 1.83 goals per game along with a .933 save percentage. Karel St-Laurent
posted the other seven wins.